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<p>[QUOTE="Shangas, post: 145175, member: 360"]As you'll have found out by now, it's a sovereign-case or sovereign holder, used to hold gold sovereign coins, which as was stated, were worth a fair bit of money back in the Victorian era. There were sovereigns, and half-sovereigns. A sovereign was worth one pound sterling (or twenty sterling silver shillings).</p><p><br /></p><p>Most people look at sovereign cases and go: "yeah but it's such a small amount of money!"</p><p><br /></p><p>It isn't.</p><p><br /></p><p>A sovereign was a LOT of money in those days. Twenty shillings was nothing to laugh at back in the 1800s. Even into the early 20th century, a whole pound was generally the given wage for a skilled shipyard worker per-week. Those twenty shillings were expected to pay his rent, his food, his clothing, and whatever else, for his family. This was at a time when weekly expenses were measured in shillings and pence.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have a copy of an advertisement for the company that sold a writing box that I have in my collection. The price at the bottom of the page is 9 pounds 9 shillings.</p><p><br /></p><p>This was in about 1865. And this is a VERY expensive, fully-fitted writing box. So a gold sovereign was nothing to laugh at. It was a very considerable amount of money.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Shangas, post: 145175, member: 360"]As you'll have found out by now, it's a sovereign-case or sovereign holder, used to hold gold sovereign coins, which as was stated, were worth a fair bit of money back in the Victorian era. There were sovereigns, and half-sovereigns. A sovereign was worth one pound sterling (or twenty sterling silver shillings). Most people look at sovereign cases and go: "yeah but it's such a small amount of money!" It isn't. A sovereign was a LOT of money in those days. Twenty shillings was nothing to laugh at back in the 1800s. Even into the early 20th century, a whole pound was generally the given wage for a skilled shipyard worker per-week. Those twenty shillings were expected to pay his rent, his food, his clothing, and whatever else, for his family. This was at a time when weekly expenses were measured in shillings and pence. I have a copy of an advertisement for the company that sold a writing box that I have in my collection. The price at the bottom of the page is 9 pounds 9 shillings. This was in about 1865. And this is a VERY expensive, fully-fitted writing box. So a gold sovereign was nothing to laugh at. It was a very considerable amount of money.[/QUOTE]
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